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Teams: Butler (12-10; 2-8) vs. Georgetown (13-9; 4-6)
Day: Saturday, Feb.8
Time: 1:00 PM ET
Location: Verizon Center, Washington, District of Columbia
TV: CBS
About Georgetown: The Georgetown Hoyas look like they have turned things around, beating Michigan State and DePaul in their last two games. At the start of the game, the Hoyas played sloppy and it didn’t look like they could pull out a win at the Allstate Arena. Sure enough, Georgetown was able to turn it around in the second half with the help of Markel Starks.
Starks was a force to reckon with, scoring 26 points in this contest and averaging 22.2 PPG and 3.6 APG in his last five games. Starks also made 11 foul shots contributing to the Hoyas 30 foul shots made in the game. In order for Georgetown to make a push into March Madness they will need to win games like this with more ease.
About Butler: The Butler Bulldogs were up at the half and had the lead throughout the second quarter, but were not able to hold onto their lead on Tuesday night against Marquette losing 69-62. Butler’s turnovers led to their downfall in the game and Marquette’s come from behind win. In addition to turnovers, scoring was an issue for Butler, scoring only 45% from the field. The tough part about this is that virtually all of Butler’s losses have been very close (Oklahoma State by two points, Villanova by three…). One of the only bright spots for Butler in this game was Kellen Dunham who scored 16 points and had 7 rebounds.
Two Keys to the Game:
-Georgetown’s foul shooting: Georgetown took a lot of foul shots in their win against DePaul and if they want to beat Butler, the Hoyas will need to do the same thing. Think about it, more than a third of Georgetown's points were scored on the foul line.
-Butler’s turnovers: Butler had the lead for the greater part of their loss to Marquette, and the main reason they lost is because of their turnovers late in the contest. If Butler can limit their turnovers in their game against Georgetown they will have a great chance at winning.
Prediction: Butler 69, Georgetown 63
